Stand in the Rain
by theSunlitEarth
Summary: “I can’t believe you!” she yelled, her voice partially drowned out by the rain. “I can’t believe that you would do that when you know...when you...” she trailed off, shaking her head, a look of disgust on her face.


**So, here's my next PJO fanfic :) This is a oneshot, by the way. I'm not really sure how I feel about this one...it was a random whim inspired by a song called Stand In The Rain by Superchick...so, yeah, review and I'll be happy!**

"Dang, it's started raining!" Rachel exclaimed, sounding thoroughly annoyed as we stood in the lobby of my apartment building looking out at the dark night and the rain pounding mercilessly against the door.

I frowned. "What's wrong with rain?"

She smirked. "Oh, right, I forgot, you're the water boy."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, so?"

She shook her head. "Whatever Percy. Do you have an umbrella?"

"Upstairs. But can't you just call a taxi? I don't think that you should walk alone at night anyway."

She sighed. "Fine. I suppose it's raining a bit too hard anyway."

I nodded. "Good. You have a cell phone, don't you?"

"Yes." She rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, calling for a taxi.

Once she had hung up, we stood in the lobby of my building, not talking, just enjoying the silence. Occasionally someone would hurry in through the front door, dripping wet and swearing. One lady that came through had a little dog under her arm, but I couldn't tell what kind it was because it was so wet that its fur was sticking to it and it looked more like a drowned rat than anything. It tried to bite me as it passed; I guess it was just angry that it was so wet and it decided that I would be a good venue for its rage.

As Rachel and I were laughing about it, a taxi pulled up to the curb. Rachel smiled.

"Well, that's my ride." She began out the front doors of the building.

I shook my head and grabbed her arm. "No way. I'm walking you out."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "What's this? Percy the Gentleman?"

I rolled my eyes and dragged her out the doors and into the rain. "Shut up," I mumbled.

I probably could have kept myself from getting wet, but sometimes I liked to just get wet, especially in the rain. So I allowed the downpour to soak me. Within a few moments, I was dripping wet. Rachel looked the same, her red hair sticking to her face. She shook her head at me, smiling.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing," she said quietly, her smile fading as she took a step towards me.

I was in two minds as she moved forwards and pressed her lips against mine. Half of me wanted to just kiss her and forget about everything that was bothering me about it, but the other half kept presenting me with pictures of Annabeth, her gray eyes full of anger and hurt. I didn't want her to look at me liked that ever.

I didn't have to wait long, though, to get the look I had been dreading. For, only seconds after Rachel had begun kissing me, I heard something fall to the pavement followed by a sharp gasp from somewhere to my left.

I broke hurriedly away from Rachel and looked around to see Annabeth standing, water dripping from her blonde hair as the thing that had fallen was her umbrella, with her hand over her mouth and a look of shock on her face. This was hurriedly replaced by narrowed eyes and a look of rage that I had never seen on her before.

Rachel frowned and pulled open the door of the taxi cab.

"Well, this is my cue," she said as she slipped inside. "Take care of yourself, Percy, and...I'm sorry." She glanced at me, her eyes full of regret, then she shut the door and the cab took off into the rain.

I watched the car until it was out of sight, not wanting to look at Annabeth. I was sure that she'd probably punch me or something.

Sure enough, as soon as I turned around, Annabeth was right in front of me, glaring at me like she was going to seriously murder me. She slapped me across the face, hard.

"I can't believe you!" she yelled, her voice partially drowned out by the rain. "I can't believe that you would do that when you know...when you..." she trailed off, shaking her head, a look of disgust on her face.

I blinked, the rain stinging the place where Annabeth had slapped me. I'd never seen her so mad. I guess I shouldn't have let Rachel kiss me, but how was I supposed to know that Annabeth would be standing right there...?

I took a step towards her. "Annabeth..."

"Leave me alone," she hissed as she turned and began to stalk away.

I watched her for just a moment before I decided that I was _not_ just going to let her walk away from me. I picked up her umbrella from the pavement and ran after her.

"Annabeth!"

She whirled around. "What do you want, Percy?" I could see tears in her eyes, despite the rain. She must have been really mad. I felt as if something was constricting my heart as I looked at her.

"Don't talk to me," she snapped, when I didn't answer.

"But I wasn't-"

I was cut off. "I don't want to see you, I don't want to talk to you! I want to know how you could do that. I thought you loved me, you said so yourself!"

"I do-"

"Don't talk," she snapped again. "Just listen to me."

I shut up, not really wanting to make her any more upset than she already was.

"I _love_ you, Percy, and I thought you cared about me too. I guess I was wrong. If-if you like Rachel, I'll understand." Her voice softened considerably, so that I could hardly hear it over the rain. "But you can't play me then. If you like her, just say so, and I-I won't come back." She had looked away from me, and I could see her shaking. If it was from the cold, or something else, I didn't know. I preferred for her to be shouting at me than to look so dejected. Annabeth was showing a range of emotions that I had never seen before.

I took a wary step towards her. "Annabeth..."

She didn't move or say anything.

I decided to try, even if I got a broken nose or something for it.

Quickly, so she didn't have much of a chance to react, I dropped her umbrella, ran up to her and kissed her.

She pushed me away, her hands against my chest. "Perseus Jackson, if you don't mean it..." she shook her head, looking like she could cry, scream, and kiss me at the same time.

I looked down at her. Her blonde hair was dripping down her back, her gray eyes were wide and filled with emotion, and her mouth was pressed in a hard line. She was absolutely beautiful.

"Gods, Annabeth, of course I mean it."

"If you really do, Percy, don't kiss Rachel again."

I shook my head. "I won't, I promise."

"You can hang out with her, sometimes, but don't kiss her. Or I swear I will dump your sorry butt," she snapped, glaring at me.

"I believe you," I said quietly.

She crossed her arms. "Good."

I frowned. "Can I ask you a question?"

Annabeth looked at me warily. "I guess."

"What were you doing outside my apartment building at nine at night?"

I couldn't really tell, but it looked like she was blushing just a little.

"Um...I was...um...I just...wanted to see you, I guess."

I raised an eyebrow. "How did you get here?"

"The Grey Sister's cab."

I sighed. "There are worse ways to travel, I guess."

I glanced up, noticing that the rain was lightening up. It didn't really matter, as both Annabeth and I were completely soaked anyway. But, as we stood there looking at each other, neither really knowing what to say, I felt this inexplicable pull towards her and suddenly I had her up against a wall and we were kissing.

It was the best kiss yet, with the exception of that underwater one at the end of camp last year. Annabeth's arms were around my neck, her hands twisted up in my hair. My hands were on her hips, and we were pressed together so closely that it felt like we had melted into one person.

When we finally broke apart, we were both gasping for breath. Annabeth looked at me and a smile broke out on her face. I felt an answering smile on mine.

"We should do that more often," she said breathlessly.

I nodded, most of my coherent thoughts were still struggling to return to my head.

She laughed, the sound echoing down the street that, for some reason, was almost completely deserted, with only the occasional car going by. I wondered if this might be a certain Love Goddesses' doing.

"Maybe we should go inside," I said when my general cognitive functions returned.

"Maybe we should," Annabeth replied. She took my hand, walked over to pick up her umbrella, and pulled me back into my apartment building, a smile on her face.


End file.
